WHO boss slams Ukraine focus

GENEVA. – The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has criticised the global community’s focus on the war in Ukraine, arguing that crises elsewhere, including in his home country of Ethiopia, are not being given equal consideration, possibly because the people affected are not white.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned whether “the world really gives equal attention to Black and white lives” given that ongoing emergencies in Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria had garnered only a “fraction” of the concern for Ukraine.

Last month Tedros said there was “nowhere on Earth where the health of millions of people is more under threat” than Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

He acknowledged that the war in Ukraine was globally significant, but asked whether other crises were being accorded enough attention.

“I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way,” he said. “Some are more equal than others.”

Tedros described the situation in Tigray as tragic and said he “hopes the world comes back to its senses and treats all human life equally”.

“I don’t even know if that was taken seriously by the media,” he said. – The Guardian